KC Willis Inspired Denim Jacket

 Mysterious Fairy Denim Jacket, Size 10 - Purchase Here

Sometimes you just have to sew.  An afternoon spent with the sewing machine, a fabulous image of a ginger haired fairy, vintage crochet, old shell buttons, blue tassels and beaded ribbon and a denim jacket... all inspired by the book, Creating With Fabric by Jill Haglund featuring one of my favorite artists - KC Willis.

I ran silk photo fabric through my inkjet printer to achieve a silky almost transparent image of the beautiful fairy with butterflies in her hair.  This gave her a mystical quality that all fairies possess.  I added the silver bird charm and used a base of vintage crochet for the collage.  I added sequined and embroidered ribbon just above the blue tassels at the bottom of the panel to ground the entire piece.

I added silk yarn and three white vintage shell buttons along the side of the fairy panel.

I printed out one of my favorite expressions on cotton twill fabric again ran through my inkjet printer and stitched it into place just below the image.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious" Albert Einstein

 

I love this image and the final result ala KC Willis style.  You can sign up for one of KC's Collage Camp's online by visiting her at this link. 

Collage Papers - Vintage

Vintage letters, journals and envelopes are great for mixed media work. They are perfect for soldered charms, backgrounds for found objects, decoupage and paper cut outs - the options are endless. Here are some for you to try...

Try printing the vintage papers on transluscent papers, fabric, transparency and vellum.

Stamps are especially intersting in mixed media projects - so are the postmarks.

For the exotic try a foreign language to give the work a little something special.

Use butterfly wings for fairy wings for a photo copied image of your great grandmother as a child. What a great ornament to hang from doorknobs or small hooks.

Sandwich the papers between glass or in the back of a tiny box filled with treasures from the shore.

Botanicals can also be used for interesting fairy wings for your pet - such a cute thank you note can be made this way.

Use the papers as a background for your paintings allowing the text and colors bleed through for added interest.

Cut outinchies and decoupage an old doll found at an estate sale.

Print these vintage papers out and cut out birds, butterflies, and honeybees - or just a simple heart.

Curious About Fairies

Marcy, one of the artists at Gardenology, just came into my office to disuss a decoupage project she has in the design phase. She wanted to use a "fairy" as the focal point and design the work around the image.

Did she ever come to the right place! I have been collecting images of fairies that I find interesting for several months. These are some of my favorites.

This one is my favorite -